The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-09-07
Tine Advantare. of Farm Life.

Correspondence New England Farmer.
One of the most common complaints made
against farm life, by both men and women. is
that it is a hard, drudging, unsocal way OF l1v-
ing way sitting all the higher emotions
and thoughts, and calculated to narrow rather
than enlarge the soul of reason. There can be
no doubt that in many cases these seem to be
the obvious facts; but 1.-THE obvious is rarely the
true" have known some aesthetic eouis tnat
have made the same complaint against any sort
of housekeeping The compliments, however,
have not. in the long run, found the boarding
house hotel lie for which it was exchanged
more satisfying or enrolling Southern
farm-poet has told us lit is more in the man
than it is in the land" that success in farming
resides. There are far too many people who
find the enlargement of SOUL" for which they
long, eude their pursuit all through life.
without once suspectng that the fault may be
The most striking thing among farmers to an
outsider is the abundance of material comforts
and common luxuries which they possess and
enjoy without seeming to be aware of it. The
inhabitants Of this world have, from the begin
ming, been woefully restricted in those very
things which most abound upon our farms
pure air and water, abundant and varied food,
comfortable clothing, winter warmth, the free
of domesticated animals and their products.
and withal that perfect liberty and equality
which heretofore no one in any portion or the
world ever had enough of in the sense in which
the American farmer understands that word
enough" The profusion of crude material
comforts our farm is far beyond the capacity
Of most of their possessors to appreciate or
utilize. On these farms alone do men and won
en- nave that unDouDd6d chanc6 TO De ana TO
grow and themselves and their sur
roun dings for which mankind has longed I'M
utterably since history began. Next to these
things comes the perfect liberty of farm life
The farmer who owns his land in America need
never know a master save his God He has be-
fore and around him all the opportunities with
fewer of the compulsions Of life than ever before
came to humanity. It is absurd to say that
these SURF oundngs fail of producing their
nevitable consequences. These fair chances
for development and growth must make men
and women superior to those who grow where
they 'cabined, cribbed. confined" by the
fears and privations of the older times But be-
side the effects which necessarily spring from
this favorable environment, the opportunity to
realize hitherto fruitess aspirations of the
race must bear it's fruits. There not
many who fully understand what it means
what is involved in the fact-to know how to
read and write, and to be supplied with mental
food profusely with material sustenance.
American farmers and their families read more,
and learn more from their reading, than the
most favored classes in the most cultured ma
tons a century ago. In the first place there is
more to know; in the next. the facilities for the
distribution of knowledge which have been de-
veloped in the current century bring more and
better reading to every mans door than any,
save few favored scholars. could obtain but
few generations ago. There is not newspaper
in America to-day that does bring to it's
readers more material for intellectual growth
than kings could command but little while
sir